This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
Wi-Fi or WiFi is a technology for local area wireless computer networking, which allows terminal devices to access a network, mainly using the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio bands. Currently, the Wi-Fi has been considered as a key candidate for a small cell solution for mobile broadband heterogeneous networks since the Wi-Fi could provide a good supplement to existing wireless communication networks. Currently, almost in all corners of the modern world, there are intense activities on how to integrate Wi-Fi with the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and how to offer a “carrier Wi-Fi” solution. In the “carrier Wi-Fi” solution, the Wi-Fi is integrated with the 3GPP Evolved Packet Core (3GPP EPC) in a similar fashion to any 3GPP radio access technology, and the access authentication and authorization (AAA) is controlled through a core network for the 3GPP network. Standardization and certification organizations such as 3GPP, Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA), Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) and Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) are producing materials on carrier-integrated Wi-Fi and at the same times, many network equipment manufacturers are making some products in which the Wi-Fi is integrated on different levels.
In fact, there were already some network integrated Wi-Fi, such as Ericsson Network Integrated Wi-Fi (ENIW), which could offer a way to seamlessly access Wi-Fi and EPC. Therein, Wi-Fi authentication is performed through Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) based authentication methods, such as Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) SIM, EAP-Authentication and Key Agreement (EAP-AKA), improved EAP-AKA (EAP-AKA′) toward the same network entities as those used for the 3GPP. Currently, for 2 Generation (2G), 3 Generation (3G) and 4 Generation (4G) network access, 3GPP technology specification (TS) 23.401 and TS 23.060 have specified a Mobile Equipment (ME) identity procedures between Mobility Management Entity/Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node (MME/SGSN) and Equipment Identity Register (EIR). However, the ME identity procedures cannot applied to device identity check for Wi-Fi devices and at the same time there is no a solution or standardization for device identity check when they connect to operator core network via Wi-Fi yet, as such operators are not able to control access of the mobile device to operator walled garden services when the mobile device has a fault or blacklisted, which might bring many potential risks.
Therefore, in the art, there is a need for a new solution for device identity check on the terminal device when the terminal device is connected to a non-3GPP access network such as the Wi-Fi network.